The Darkness Within
by ScytheWoman
Summary: What if the light had a darkness within?  Everybody knows that the light casts shadows.  How deep do those shadows go?


**The Darkness Within**

****Note: **For those of you who don't read the Dexter books by Jeff Lindsay,the "lizard brain" refers to the primitive section of the brain where emotions such as anger and fear are supposed to generate from. The author does not own the characters in this story; however, the plot is an original piece.

**Chapter 1. **

My name is Dexter Morgan, and this is the story of how I was almost caught. This is a night with its happy bright moon full, and grinning like a bleached skull sitting on a pile of bones, and I Dexter Morgan was just finishing up a play-date with a woman who considered herself an Angel of Death. Well, she was no angel; she killed slowly and for fun. I could not let such an unusual playmate get away. Neither the Harry Code nor the Dark Passenger would allow that.

My foster father, Harry Morgan, was a cop. He could see how I was, and when he saw he could not change me, he taught me to go after others that were like me, but worse, and to clean up as only a cop could.

"Dexter! You could have been killed!" yelled Debra my foster sister, as she angrily stomped back and forth across my little apartment. If I could have genuine feelings, I'd say I cared for her.

"Debra, I was careful, and she was unprepared."

She looked at me as if I had just stuck gum in the hair of her favorite doll and said, "I'm still not certain I should let you be doing this."

Later that night, Dexter was over at Rita's house helping put away the dinner dishes.

"Hey Dexter!" yelled a boy with brown hair and big brown eyes on a bright intelligent face that had a smile and pizza sauce on it from dinner.

"Yes Cody?" Dexter said, as he came into the living room.

"Your boss is on T.V., look."

And so Dexter watched as the camera focused on Lieutenant Sarah Thompson, a pretty but cold woman in a black dress and a red blouse talking to the news reporter.

"So you don't know who stole the shipping container or who attacked the guard?" asked the news reporter.

"No, but it was clearly taken by a professional who then used a hydraulic fork lift to move it to a flat bed truck. The security cameras took photos of the back of the truck, but because of the angle of the truck, they could only provide a picture of the crate and part of a license plate," Sarah stated.

"So how did the thief get passed all of the security and the guard?" asked the reporter.

"The Police are looking into it, but the direction of the tracks suggest whoever it was too it to East Miami Dade County."

"Thank you Lieutenant," said the reporter, "Now to talk to the guard. Mr. Akins, how were you attacked, and why?"

"Well, I was doing my rounds when I saw a big African American strapping down an old rusty crate to the flatbed and I called out and told him to halt. He jumped down, came over, and said he was a cop. I looked to see his badge and I.D., then when I tried to look at the crate to see what he was doing, he roundhouse kicked me, or so I thought."

"What do you mean, 'or so I thought'?" asked the reported eagerly.

"Well it was his leg, but it was all made out of metal," said Mr. Akins.

"Thank you, and have a speedy recover," said the reporter kindly.

Dexter looked at the T.V. but didn't really see it. He was too busy thinking about the description the guard gave and how it sounded like Doakes. _That's impossible, _he thought,_ no one's seen him since all those nasty killings all those months ago._ '_Don't forget, he has friend too' _whispered his dark passenger in that wordless way he always did, whenever something to do with his bloody childhood or his playmates came up.

"Is anything wrong?" asked Rita with concern.

"What? Oh no, no. I'm fine. I'm sorry. I did not mean to scare you, I was just thinking how sad it was that the guard got hurt."

"Yea, that was awful," said Rita.

"I gotta go. Lt. Thompson will probably call me to help out tomorrow," he said with a grin.

"Well goodnight, drive carefully," said Rita, as she kissed him on the cheek, and with a smile.

"I will, goodbye Cody, Rita."

"Bye," they both said with grins, as they waved to Dexter.

When he got back to his apartment, Dexter went straight to his computer and looked up East Miami Dade and found the location of the Miami Dade crime lab, or CSI team as they were called. He managed to look up a few articles and instances involving them, and found that they had an impressive collar rating.

"If I go there, I must be careful," mused Dexter out loud. He then came upon an article about one of Miami Dade's most successful officers, Horatio Cane. When Dexter saw that name, his dark passenger hissed and gnashed his teeth in a cold fury, but Dexter sensed something deep within his lizard brain where he thought his dark passenger stayed, _fear_.

That night, a scruffy bearded man with stringy blonde hair and nasty crooked teeth stalked through Biscayne Bay National Wildlife Park to poach alligators so he could illegally sell their skin and meat.

"Man the moon is blood red tonight, hard to tell where the gators are..." he said aloud, the scent of gin rolling out of his mouth like smog off of Los Angeles.

_Snap!_ Went a twig. The man turned and aimed into the night.

"Who's there?" he yelled, in a drunken stupor. "You best leave, before you get hurt." Silence greeted his feeble threats. "Ranger, you best go! All I'm doing is hunting for my dinner...!" He turned around and grumbled, "Gotta stop watching the news before going out at night." As the man passed a tree, he did not notice that a large man pulled out a gun.

The next morning Delko, Calleigh, and Wolfe were at the border between the National Park and Miami Dade County.

"What do you guys think of this?" asked Wolfe curiously.

"It looks like a large storage container found on tankers or salvage barges," said Calleigh as she walked up to it.

"Then what is it doing on dry land?" asked Delko.

"That's what we were hoping you could tell us," said a man in a park ranger's uniform as he walked around the crate to face the three CSIs. "My name is Ranger Thomas Grant, are you the team from East Miami Dade?"

"Yes, I'm Eric Delko, this is Ryan Wolfe, and our ballistics expert Calleigh Duquesne."

A young officer with them was walking around the crate toward the direction they came and said, "Hey look, tire tracks, but they're wide—too wide for a regular tire."

"You're right, young man, those are tire tracks from a fork lift. When I got out of the service I drove one for 3 years then came out here," said the Ranger.

Calleigh looked at the crate and said, "Has anyone looked inside yet?"

"No, we thought it was best to let you take a look; didn't want to disturb evidence," said Thomas.

"Thanks for calling us," said Eric, as he took photos; an impression of the lock on the door.

"Okay, pop it!" said Wolfe cheerily.

One of the officers clipped the lock off and with gloved hands opened the door, then stared in horror, and promptly passed out.

After reviving the young officer, everyone else started to process the scene.

"Look at the amount of blood in the body parts. Who could have done such a thing, and why?" said a pale looking Wolfe.

"Well, from the amount of blood splatter, and the drawings of a foot and a tongue, I say a truly sick psycho," said one of the other officers.

"Excuse me, but I just got a fax that said Horatio Cane wants the three of you to get back to headquarters," said the Ranger, "and the fax also said the box, errr crate is from West Miami Dade."

"How does he know that?" asked Delko curiously.

"He said a Lieutenant Thompson called him and said it was stolen from their police evidence lockup and it was part of an old case."

"What old case was that?" asked Calleigh, as she was busy looking for bullet shells.

"I believe he said it was called the Ice Pick Killer case."

Everyone stopped what they were doing and gasped.

"No way, that was an awful case, all those poor people," said the young officer sadly.

That night, Dexter looked at a blood-red moon, grinning and leering at the world like a demon satiated by a meal, yet already thinking of his next gorging. Despite the chill in his spine, he knew somewhere a playmate needed to be found, and soon, his dark driver starting to stir.

**Chapter 2.**

The next day, Debra walked into Dexter's office and watched as he looked at maps of East Miami Dade County, especially the numerous waterways, channels, and highways.

"Hey Dex, what are you looking at?" she said after a few minutes.

"Ah!" Dexter gave a small yelp, turning to see Debra looking at him and frowning. "Yeesh, what is with you?"

"You act like you didn't even notice I was standing there," she said.

"I didn't. I should have though, you could have been, well, anyone," said Dexter a little guiltily.

"That could have been a problem," said Debra tritely. "You could end up getting caught, then you'll be sorry."

"Debra, why did you come in here anyway?" asked Dexter.

"I came here," she said irritably, "to invite you to lunch, now get a move on."

"That was very good Cuban food Deb, thanks," said Dexter.

"You're welcome," she said, "Now any insight as to who stole that crate of yours and where that psycho kidnapped me and kidnapped Laguarda, our former Lieutenant.

"No, I just can't think of anyone who could do that. It's not my brother. This whole thing wreaks of sloppiness," said Dexter.

As they walked into the police station, their friend Angel walked up to them and said, "Lieutenant Thompson wants to see Dexter in her office, _now_."

Dexter walked into her office with an appropriate look of concern on his face.

"Dexter, come in and have a seat," she said with mild stiffness.

So as he sat she said, "As you may or may not be aware the crate was stolen where the ice pick killer killed your former sergeant and almost killed your sister, Officer Morgan."

"Yes, I saw that on the news last night," said Dexter with a slight frown on his face.

"Well, I contacted the Miami Dade crime lab, and they have it."

"Why would they have the crate?" asked Dexter seriously.

"Because it was dumped in their jurisdiction, and I have spoken to the officer in charge there. A Lt. Horatio Cane, who is willing to make a move for interdepartmental cooperation," she said.

_That's interesting, _Dexter thought to himself.

"Why did you call me in here if I may ask," said Dexter, as humbly as possible.

"I called you in here," said the Sergeant, because they don't have a blood splatter analysis and you are, according to various sources, the best around."

"Thank you," said Dexter, with a slight grin. "Does this mean you're sending me to the CSI crime lab in East Miami Dade?"

"Yes it does, and you have tonight to prepare everything and get over there by 2:00pm."

"Thank you. I will do my best," said Dexter. As he got up to leave he noticed a picture on the desk. It was Laguarda and his current Sergeant, five years younger.

**Chapter 2.**

"Well, how did it go?" huffed Debra while she paced back and forth in his office.

"It's fine Debs. All she wants is for me to go to East Miami Dade and analyze the blood splatter that was found in the crate."

"Yeah, I know, it's what Angel and I heard when we placed the cup to the door. But this Horatio guy; his team is the best in their department, and I did research on him, his childhood was as screwed up as yours was before dad found you."

At this, the dark passenger opened his mouth in a silent laugh that felt like dry leaves skittering down his spine.

The next day, Horatio was looking at photos of the crime scene, when Calleigh and Boavista walked in with a tall skinny but well muscled reddish blonde-haired man. He was wearing a white shirt, black pants, and shoes.

"Hello," said Dexter as he shook Horatio's hand.

"Hello to you, Mr. Morgan, you're right on time—I like that," said Horatio with a pleasant smile.

"Thank you Detective Cane, I only hope I can be of some assistance to you and your team," said Dexter with a smile just as pleasant.

Three hours later, Dexter, Wolfe and Eric were standing in the crate at the MDPD's Port Evidence lockup.

"Wow. This place is huge and so close to the water, yet easily accessible by roads or highways. Very nice," said Dexter with hushed impressiveness in his voice.

"Yea, it's something," said Wolfe amicably, "but we have work to do."

"Ah, yes...sorry," he said, and Dexter got to work. He noticed the drawings of the foot and tongue were not quite normal, and as he looked at the blood patterns on the wall he could almost see the man sitting on the floor as he was hacked and cut to pieces.

Wolfe came up and looked at the scene and said, "Something is off; there is no sign of a struggle...but why?"

"He was already dead," said Dexter, as he looked at the spot the body parts had been placed.

"How do you know that?" asked Delko as he walked over to Dexter.

"Because if he had been able to struggle, the blood would have been pumping so fast through his body with adrenaline, it would have gone everywhere when he was cut," said Dexter.

As Delko and Wolfe checked the other side of the crate, Dexter still looking at the sides and interior of the crate saw a blue cloth. Looking around he saw Delko walking toward him and Wolfe looking at the foot drawn in blood. He quickly turned around and pulling a little bag out, he took a bag of tweezers and deftly removed a piece and placed it in the bag, then into his pocket with the tweezers.

"What's so interesting over here?" asked Delko as he stood next to Dexter.

"To answer your question, what's interesting is this barely visible shoe print."

So it went for the next two hours, then they took their findings and went to lunch. Dexter in the back of the car thought to himself, _that piece of cloth, it's almost like a shirt fabric...and the foot and tongue drawings...that's almost too irregular not to be about Doakes, or rather what happened to Doakes._ _Hmm, I wonder..._

Meanwhile, Horatio was looking into the Miami Metro's files on the ice pick killer and found that it was the lack of blood that had drawn the case out, but that Dexter and his previous Sergeant had found his sister tied to a bench about to be killed. That, and he got away because Dexter did not stop him. At that thought, something stirred inside, deep in Horatio's gut and a faint voice that sounded like the branch of a tree scratching back and forth on the side of an old abandoned house and a cold wind whispered, _family_, then gave a harsh laugh.

That night, Dexter was looking at the blood sample he took from the crate. It was devoid of chloroform or any other knockout drug. When he was done, Dexter looked at a drop of blood that had dripped onto the piece of shirt he had found earlier that day. He already had a small sample of DNA from Doakes, (thanks to an almost batched rescue he and Debra had to do by the skin of their teeth). Dexter gave a slight groan, that case had made even him shutter, and not in a good way.

**Chapter 3.**

The next morning, a man collecting cans on the beach tripped over a lump in the sand when he was reaching for a bottle. "Ow!" he wined as he rubbed his big toe. He then proceeded to pull the bottle out of the sand and screamed for the entire world to hear.

"Wow, what a way to go," said Eric, as he took photos of the body.

"Whoever did this is sick and twisted. He killed this poor man, then ripped his chest open and spread apart his lungs," said Calleigh as she took photos from another angle.

"So Dexter, what do you think?" asked Horatio as he looked down at the body through the glare of the sun.

Dexter stood with his arms folded looking down at a man whose eyes were wide with terror. He thought to himself, _this is sloppy sloppy sloppy! This man died before he was ripped open, and his lungs are haphazardly pulled out of his body. Whoever did this has clearly not seen a properly done blood eagle. _

Dexter said aloud, "It's clearly the poor attempt of a novice to create a blood eagle. Quite nasty."

"What's a blood eagle?" asked Calleigh curiously.

Dexter looked at her and said, "It's when a man is sliced down the spine while tied standing up and the one who slices shoves his hands in, spreads the ribs apart, grabs the lungs, and yanks them out the back, letting them drop where they hang. The way the wings are spread apart looks like eagle wings, hence the name."

"Oh," said Calleigh with a slightly green tinge to her face. "I think I'll see how Eric is doing with the man that found the body," she said.

As she rather hurriedly walked away, Horatio looked at him without his sunglasses on and said, "That was a very interesting lesson. How did you know that if I may ask?"

"When I first started, a woman tried to kill three men like that. Since her technique was so sloppy, she had to stab them in the heart to kill them."

"Well, this guy had his throat sliced from ear to ear before anything like that was attempted," said Alexx the coroner as she came up behind Horatio and Dexter.

"Hence the lack of blood splatter anywhere but directly along side the torso," said Alexx. "The he was cut up, and then his torso and arms were cut up," she said.

A chill wind blew within Dexter, and he closed his eyes and whispered to himself, _tell me, is this my brothers work? _The echoing silence was deep and cold. _My friend must be scared_ _of something nearby, but not enough to leave I hope, _Dexter thought grimly. Opening his eyes he found Alexx and Horatio down by the coroners van looking at the photos Eric had taken. He then saw something in the sand partially hidden by the middle of the dead mans arm.

Quickly taking out his camera, he snapped his photos, then he took a small plastic bag and tweezers, then put the item in the bag and the bag into his pocket. Dexter then walked over to see how Calleigh was doing. Horatio had seen Dexter pick something up, but he did not know what it was. _Hmmm, maybe it's time I really look at Dexter Morgan_, thought Dexter.

At that same moment the same stirring in his gut as before, but stronger, made Horatio close his eyes in pain. When he did a voice, the same as before but stronger, said _he is the same as I am, _then it laughed faintly louder than before but still fairly faint.

Later that day, Dexter was with Alexx in the autopsy room looking closer at the bodies.

"Wow, you have quite the impressive array of tools here," said Dexter appreciatively.

"Thanks," said Alexx. "Now what do you see on the bodies?"

"I see jagged cutting, and serrations along the joints of the first body. It's as if the killer was in a hurry, like he only knew half of what to do. Wait, look at that..." said Dexter.

"What is it?" asked Alexx curiously as she moved to look closer at the body.

"That," said Dexter with a dark look, "is an attempt to hide a bullet hole made by a .45, and these are teeth marks made by a blade bigger than an average steak knife but smaller than a machete."

"You know your blades well, Mr. Morgan," she said.

"Well, you see in my line of work, you see all sorts of wounds made by all sorts of weapons," he said kind of sheepishly.

At that same time Horatio was staring at an old newspaper article about how two boys were found in a shipping crate surrounded by and sitting in six inches of blood also found on the walls and ceilings of the crate. It was found as well as body parts that were later determined to be from their mother, a drug dealer, his partner, and their guards, as well as two unidentified men. The two men were most likely illegal aliens and used as drug mules according to Harry Morgan, who was the first officer on the scene. It also said the boys had been sitting like that staring at their mothers head—at least the half they could see—calling out for her.

**Chapter 4. **

Horatio said to himself_, how could someone have that happen to them and not be affected?_ mused Horatio to himself. _Wait, this says two boys, what ever happened to the four year old little one?_

That night, Dexter drove back to the hotel he was staying at, when he stopped at a red light. He looked over at the beach and saw Sgt. Doakes pointing a gun at him, then he fired at Dexter. Dexter was hit in the shoulder and knocked on his side and had the breath knocked out of him for a second or two. (_Ow! Well that hurt a little bit_, thought Dexter testily, as he fought to regain his breath.) As he sat up he saw Doakes lurching towards him to finish the job. Dexter stared at Doakes as he walked toward him with a malicious grin on his face and a cold look of revenge in his eyes. The darkness in Doakes looked out and snarled a silent challenge and then laughed. Dexter's own friend roared up and hissed, jaws agape, then laughed the sound like a cold October wind blowing through tombstones. Doakes stopped moving as if he could hear Dexter's dark passenger saying, _your not the real threat anymore_.

"Dexter!" he yelled, then raised his .38 and said, "You're a monster, an abomination! You will die!"

Dexter grinned and said, "I know you are, but what am I?" Then he said, "This is not your territory, you have none!"

Doakes raised his .38 and Dexter said, "Smile for the camera," and then pointed behind himself.

Doakes looked up and cursed and said, "Next time you won't be so lucky," and lurched back into the shadows dragging his metal leg.

Dexter grinned and drove off down the road.

**Chapter 5. **

The next day, Dexter was in the lab with Delco looking at digital versions of the photos that were taken at the first crime scene.

"Well, this is grand," muttered Delco irritably as he looked at the last photo.

"What is it?" asked Dexter with a good amount of concern, (false of course).

"All that blood and nothing in Codex. Plus the way he has the body parts displayed...it doesn't make any sense," said Delco.

Dexter took another look at the photo. He thought he saw the index finger point toward a small bloody smudge, almost covered by the body's left foot.

"Look Delco, I think we missed a bit of blood over here," said Dexter.

Delco looked and said, "How could we have missed that? Now I'll have to go back to the crime scene. I'll have Calleigh come with me. Hopefully it's still there."

"I could come with you, no need to bother anyone else," said Dexter. "Besides, I heard Horatio tell her to test out the old man's riffle."

"Actually, Delco can go collect the sample by himself, I want to talk to you," said a voice behind them.

They both turned to see Horatio standing there with a solid look on his face. (_What could Horatio want, and more importantly, what is that emptiness within him?_)

"What would you like to talk about?" asked Dexter politely, as Delco left.

"How about this?" said Horatio as he showed Dexter the traffic camera photos of him and Doakes staring each other down.

Dexter's dark passenger looked at Horatio curiously, then laughed and whispered in that wordless way, and Horatio's own dark passenger rose up and stared at Dexter's own dark passenger with interest. Horatio then placed a picture that showed Doakes shooting Dexter and then another one that showed the imprint of an odd foot on the damp pavement.

"Would you like to tell me why, that when he had ample time and opportunity, that he did not finish the job?"

Dexter stared at the lieutenant as calm as stone on the outside but as nervous as a rat in a room full of cats on the inside. Horatio felt a surge of glee at Dexter's pause, then he realized that it wasn't him that felt glee. (_No! It's back again, after all this time. What could have brought it back?)_.

Dexter having gone through a similar if not much shorter version of what the good lieutenant was going through said, "So you have one too, huh?" he asked with a grin.

"I don't know what you're talking about Mr. Morgan," Horatio said with a grimace. "I don't have anything."

Putting his professional attitude back on Dexter said, "If you say so, but sooner or later your little friend is going to come and unless you learn to work together now you will end up losing everything."

Horatio's darkness emitted a silent shriek that reverberated inside Horatio's lizard brain.

**Chapter 6. **

Later that night, Horatio dreamt of the day he almost killed his stepdad.

_Dream Sequence_:

"Stop! Stop hitting my boy! All he did was scratch a small amount of paint off your stupid truck!"

"Woman! It's a quarter of an inch long—and wide! Now I'll do what I want! Maybe this will teach the two of you whose boss!" He then proceeded to bash Horatio's head into a wall made out of sheetrock. Horatio bit him and drew blood.

"Ow! You little brat!" the guy yelled, then punched Horatio in the face. He fell down hard.

"Weakling!" said the man with a sneer, "Ha ha ha."

Horatio's mother grabbed the man and pushed him away from her son.

"Oh, so now mama's gonna get in on the action? Fine, I got enough for the both of you!" The guy got up and started to go after her.

"You leave her alone you maggot-brained hick!" yelled Horatio as he grabbed a wooden board from the wall.

His stepdad turned and looked and saw a new look in his stepson's eyes. The same look Horatio would later have as he evened his wife (Delco's sister) in Rio.

"You punk! I'll kill you!" he said to Horatio. "I'm a man, you do as I say, you hear me boy?" He then ran straight at Horatio, and Horatio plunged the wood deep into his body, a mere 3 inches from his heart. The man was later sent to jail, and Horatio's mom pressed charges against him, as did Horatio.

As Horatio sat in the hospital bed, he closed his eyes, and a voice that sounded like a bare tree branch scraping against an abandoned house in a cold October wind said, _you did well, well can work together_.

"Who are you?" asked a woozy Horatio to himself_._

_A friend that can help you kill more bad men_, it then laughed a sound like wind racing through a skeleton's rib cage.

"But I didn't kill him, I was just defending my mom and myself."

It seemed to look at Horatio, then the voice said, _you tried to though, you wanted to._..

"No!" said Horatio even though a cold certainty said otherwise. "Go away, I won't kill anyone! I'm a good person! I would never kill anyone, at least without a good reason, now go away!"

The darkness roared in a rage, then gave a cold smile and said, "_Sooner or later, you and I will work together whether you want to or not."_

"Never! Go away!" yelled Horatio as he held his hands over his ears and shook his head back and forth twice. He then felt a cold icy fog move to the back right portion of his brain, settling in the middle of his right lobe.

_Now we will be together forever._

Horatio awoke in a cold sweat. He remembered now how he had kept it suppressed all these years and how when he had gotten truly angry or had been defending himself for friends there had been a dark presence there with him, almost guiding him.

The next day, Doakes was watching Dexter and Horatio talking outside and thought to himself, _I will finish him, he's a cold-blooded killer. And if I have to kill to do that, well I'll start with his little redheaded friend._

"Dexter, how are things going, has Lieutenant Cane been overly interested in your actions?"

"No, but I have found out that he has a dark passenger, but he has suppressed it so long that when his friend eventually does come out, he may not go back in."

"What do you mean he may not go back in?" said Deborah.

"Debbs, when I do what I do, he takes over. It's like I'm a passenger in my own car, then he goes back inside and I take over again."

"Well, be careful, I did research. He already killed a guy in South America for allegedly killing his wife and he also has other complaints from other people."

"Who?" asked Dexter with mild curiosity.

"Criminals mostly, but lately he's been going darker."

"Well, don't worry, I will be careful," said Dexter.

Two days later, on the same road where Dexter was shot a week before, Horatio was driving when he saw a man dragging something down an alley.

**Chapter 7.**

"Excuse me, Dexter, have you seen Horatio?"

"No Ryan, sorry I have not."

"He's been gone for 5 hours."

"That's not like him to stay out of the lab like this?" asked Dexter.

"No, not when it's supposed to be for an hour lunch," said Ryan tersely.

All of a sudden Dexter's phone rang. "Dexter Morgan speaking," he said.

"Hello you killer-helping monster!" snarled the voice on the other end. "I have your new friend, and if you don't come alone to the Port Evidence lock-up on the bay, he's going to end up like Sgt. Laguarda. If you hurry, maybe I won't get bored and have him end up like me!"

The phone went dead. Dexter put it back in his pocket, turned to Ryan and said, "Get Delco and hurry to the Port Evidence lock-up on the bay, and bring all the police ammunition you can!"

Dexter ran out to his car and tore out of the parking lot, a look of pure anger on his face. Meanwhile, Horatio and Doakes were in the crate that Dexter's sergeant was recently killed in, and his mother and the five other's were killed in when he was three years old.

"You do know that people will come for me, and you will be put in jail for kidnapping and unlawful detainment," said Horatio with an annoyed look on his face.

"I know, but Dexter's a monster, and he needs to be put down. As for you, what I don't understand is how you can suppress the darkness within you for so long? How did you not end up like either Dexter or me?"

Horatio glared at the tall well-muscled African American man and said, "Who are you, and why are you after Mr. Morgan?"

"My name is Sgt. Doakes, and I used to work at Miami Metro with Sgt. Laguarda and Dexter. Dexter always rubbed me the wrong way and I never knew exactly why, until I did a little digging and found a lot of criminals that for one reason or another were let go, or were not prosecuted for murder, and had suddenly up and disappeared."

"So you think he's a vigilante?" said Horatio with a snort, "Arrest him, don't kill him."

"He's not a vigilante, he's a killer, just like them. He's only getting rid of the competition."

"Do you have any proof?" said Horatio, with a look.

"He let Sgt. Laguarda die, and the ice-pick killer get away, but conveniently saved his sister who was transferred from hooker squad to being a regular cop and was almost killed by aforementioned killer."

"So that's why you hate him," said Horatio, semi-sympathetically.

Doakes looked at Horatio and said with a grin, "Don't bother untying those knots, I made those myself."

Horatio glared at Doakes and said, "I notice you're missing a few things, Dexter do that to you too?"

Doakes glared back at Horatio and said, "Dexter was also just a little too late to stop an ex-Army buddy of mine from taking my tongue and my foot. That's what I get for trying to work with a killer to stop a killer."

**Chapter 8.**

Dexter arrived at the Port Evidence lock-up and got out of the car. _This won't be easy, Doakes will be expecting me to use my tools, but he never saw my new toy._ Dexter pulled out his dart gun and put 7 darts in it, then he moved to the door of the crate. Doakes looked up as Dexter opened the door and walked in.

"Doakes!" Dexter said in a voice as cold as an arctic blast.

"Dexter," he said with a smile. "Now, we can get down to business."

"Even for you this is insanity. Kidnapping—and a lieutenant at that."

Doakes own dark passenger glared at Dexter and hissed a challenge in it's own wordless voice (_you are my prey and I am your death)._

"Enough of this, whatever you think Dexter did to you, killing is not the answer," Horatio said irritated.

"You would say that," grunted Doakes. "I did research on you too, Cane, you're as damaged as Dexter even if you didn't officially kill anyone."

At that Horatio's inner darkness looked out at Doakes with annoyance and then at Dexter and smiled and whispered to Horatio, _kindred._

"Well, this is great, how are we going to find them. What did Dexter say?" Delco yelled across the yard.

"He just said come here and bring you and all the ammunition we could," said Ryan, as they both ran looking at crates and in between them.

Delco, Ryan, and Calleigh ran to each crate and ran in between each row and realized it's like looking for a needle in a haystack.

"Let him go, he's done nothing to deserve this," said Dexter, almost pleadingly.

"No. He's just like you, and I'm here to make sure another Bay Harbor butcher doesn't show up in my city!" He then turned to Horatio and said, "At least when you die, he'll get blamed and it will all be over."

Horatio looked at him and said defiantly, "So that will leave only one monster to lurk around and kill people; a twisted soul of a human being turned into a serial killer."

"I fought for my country and protected real human beings, then as a soldier and now as an officer of the law. Don't compare yourself to me, I at least fought to retain my humanity, I did not give in!"

"Horatio, where are you? Tell us!"

"Argh, this is nuts," growled Ryan.

"Wait, I hear voices, it sounds like they are coming from over there," said Calleigh.

"That's the crate from the National Park, let's go," said Delco.

The three of them and the two guards that worked at the evidence lock-up ran towards the crate, Delco, Ryan, and Calleigh, hoping that they were not too late.

**Chapter 9.**

"I told you to come alone and you didn't listen. Now you will both die!" Doakes raised a knife and then turned to Dexter and said, "You're father was a decent cop and you're a demon." He then turned to Horatio and just as he was about to plunge the blade into his victim and shred his internal organs a shot rang out and Doakes fell down.

"Arrgh! You shot me, you never use guns!" Doakes cried in pain and anger. "Shots fired, shots fired!" yelled Ryan.

"We need backup now," said Calleigh.

"If that psycho hurts H., I'll kill him!" roared Delco.

"I'll help," said Calleigh and Ryan together.

Horatio stood up and rubbed his wrists and stared at Dexter, their inner darkness communicating wordlessly. "Well you surprised me, you could have killed him, and me."

Dexter said, "Well, just because you have a dark passenger, doesn't mean you always have to listen to him. Although it does help most of the time."

"That's all I needed to hear!" yelled Doakes as he got up.

"How did you recover so quickly?" asked Dexter. "There's enough tranquilizer in these dart to knock out a Texas longhorn."

"I've had my share of needles and serums back in the Army days and I recover quickly."

Doakes pulled out a knife and raced at Dexter. Dexter did not have time to react or think beyond a quick, _so this is my end._ Then there was a sickening crunch and Doakes dropped to his knees and looked at Horatio with shock.

"How could you?" Doakes gasped wetly as blood began to seep out of his wound.

"Hmm, Dexter pointed out something very profound and true," said Horatio grimly.

"What (cough), could that monster say?" gurgled Doakes as he lost more blood.

"He said learn to work together, or lose everything. I've lost a lot but I will not lose everything," growled Horatio, then he plunged a knife through the man's neck and pulled the knife back out through the gaping wound.

Doakes tried to curse them and yell but all that came out was a big bloody bubble and gore then he dropped to the floor, reached out to grab Dexter, but died just short of his goal.

**Chapter 10.**

"Horatio!" yelled Delco as the three CSIs and a dozen police officers came running into the crate.

Thinking quickly, Dexter grabbed the knife and stabbed himself in the stomach on the left side. Horrified, Horatio took the knife from him and exclaimed, "What did you just do?" he said as he looked back to see his team and a group of officers running into the crate. He then turned back to see blood gushing from between Dexter's fingers as he tried to look like he was covering his knife wound.

Dexter winced in pain and said, "I just gave you a good reason to be holding a murder weapon next to a dead man. This way people won't ask too many questions and they won't investigate too deeply."

**Chapter 11.**

Horatio and Dexter were taken to Miami General where Dexter was treated for his knife wound and kept for three days for observation. Horatio was treated for minor bruises and scrapes, due to the rope and the scuffle he had when he kidnapped by Doakes in the alley. Doake's body was examined and it was determined by the evidence and descriptions provided by the two of them that Doakes was the killer of the poacher and the man on the beach.

Three days later, Dexter was back at work doing a write-up for his new boss, with a few revisions, of course.

Debra walked in and said with her lips curled over her teeth in furry, "If you ever pull a stunt like that again I will beat you to a pulp! You noodle loaf!"

"Nice to see you too, Debbs," he said smiling. "What brings such a sunny disposition to my humble and shadowed doorway?"

"A letter came for you, it's from that Lieutenant Cane," she said. So saying, she flung the letter on his desk and stalked off, still furious at him for getting hurt.

Dexter smiled and read the letter:

_To Dexter Morgan,_

_Thank you for saving my life by letting my team know where we were and by freeing me from being tied to that bench. You also surprised me with you quick thinking and tolerance for pain. By doing that you saved both our reputations and again, our lives. One last thing...I know that I have a darker half that I remember suppressing, but it has come out and gone back in with some difficulty. Thanks to your coaching, I will now be able to work with my darkness and together we will catch those that dare to slink around Miami and wash it's beautiful beaches with horror. Be careful, even the most experienced hunter will eventually slip up and get caught, even if he was expertly trained and extra cautious. _

_Your Friend, _

_H. Cane_

Dexter grinned and thought, _so another dark one has found a home, and on the right side of the law to boot! Horatio would do quite well if he stuck to working on his training exercises and working with his own inner darkness as an equal. _

Dexter's dark passenger had taken a shine to the Lieutenant's inner darkness, almost as if his darkness was a younger brother. But of course that was impossible, wasn't it? Dexter finished his work and went to Rita's. It was Cuban night, his favorite. _I have a good disguise. If I were a real human, I know I would have feelings for Rita, Debbs, and Cody and Astor. _

Dexter knocked on Rita's door, she opened it and hugged him tightly around his neck with a big grin on her face. "Welcome home Dexter!" They all said. He looked at the food, the people and the decorations and he knew he really was lucky.

**The End**


End file.
